Shoe-fastening



(No Model.)

G. H. OOURSEN.

SHOE FASTENING.

No. 385,848. Patented July 10, 1888.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

.1, Wahingmn, D. a

Nrrsn GEOQGE HAMPTON COURSEN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

SHOE-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 385,848, dated July 10. 1888.

Application filed May E), 1688. Serial No. 273,271.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, GEORGE IIAMPTON COUR- SEN, of the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shoe or Garment Fastenings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion.

This invention, while applicable to other articles of wearing-apparel in which laces are used to draw together or unite adjacent parts, 1s more especiallyintcnded for use on boots or shoes which are fastened by lacing the opening and closing parts of the boot or shoe, and it will here be described more particularly with reference to such application of it.

The invention consists in a sheet-metal strip orplate ofpeouliar construction,which is afterward bent and closed for attachment to the shoe or article of wear as an eye like fastening adapted to receive the lacing-cord or shoestring freely through it, substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

tcference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a face view of the sheetmetal fastening or blank making the same before it is bent into shape and closed and secured in position. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the same after it has been sent into shape and closed ready for attachment to the shoe or article it is designed to be applied to. Fig. 3 is a partly-sectional view in elevation, showing the fastening as secured in position; and Fig. 4 is an exterior face view of the two opening and closing portions of a laced shoe with my invention applied and having the lacingcord or shoe-string also applied.

As laced shoes are now usually made, eyelets or eyelet-holes are provided for the lower part of the lacing and hooks for the upper part. My invention in its application to a laced boot or shoe is designed to be used in the place of said hooks, and its object is to render the act of lacing up the shoe much less inconvenient or more agreeable and rapid than is attainable by the use of the hooks.

A indicates the strip or plate of sheet metal composing the fastening, which is first cut and (No model.)

formed into the shape shown in Fig. 1, the same being made with a body part, I), having a tongue, 0, at its one end and a circular opening at its opposite end, d, large enough to rccei ve within it a metal eyelet such as is in genoral use for laced shoes. Said apcrturod end or partial ring-like portion d is formed on its outer part farthest removed from the tongue 0, but in line therewith, with a depression or recess, a, the portion of metal f closing this recess being sunk to about the thickness of the strip of metal.

To apply the fastening to the shoe,the strip of metal A is bent into an approximately ring shape, and the tongue 0 inserted within the recess 6, as shown in Fig. 2. The fastening is then placed over a suitable hole in the shoe leather or material, B, where it is designed to be applied, and an ordinary metal eyelet, G, inserted from the interior of the fastening and the same closed or expanded in the usual manner of applying eyelets. This firmly secures the fastening to the leather or material carrying it, as shown in Fig. 3.

The tongue 0, it should be observed, lies in the recess 6 in such a manner that the head of the eyelet O can come well down to place, and the end part of the tongue 0 is so bent and clinched beneath the leather by the expansion of the part of the eyelet bearing thereon as to fully fasten that end of the plate A to the leather.

These fastenings alone may be applied to the shoe, if desired, to provide for the lacing of the shoe; but I prefer to use, in addition, several ordinary eyelets, s, such as now in common use, to the lower end portion of the opening in the shoe, simply for the purpose of giving a neater appearance to the shoe, and to arrange above these on each side of the shoeopening four or live (more or less) of my improved t'astenings, as shownin Fig. 4. The shoe lace or lacing 9, having been passed through the eyelets s in any desired manner, is then conducted through the fastenings A in diagonal or crisscross courses, as shown in Fig. 4:, when, by pulling upon the free ends of the lacing, the entire shoe can be laced or drawn together by such movement and said free ends afterward tied to secure the whole.

To remove the shoe from the foot, the shoe string or lacing upon being untied will then run through the fastenings with such ease as to allow the foot to be withdrawn from the shoe without trouble. The shoe string or lacing 9 should be of such length as that it will not leave any of the fastenings A during the unlacing or slackening of it, so that the free ends of the lacing will then be in position to be again pulled when replacing the shoe.

Having thus described myinvention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The within-described eye like fastening for laced boots or shoes or other articles of wear, composed ot'a metal plate havinga body, I), a tongue, 0, at its one end, and an opposite approximately circular open end, d, formed with a recess, 6, and depressed portion f, adapted to receive the tongue 0, upon suitably bendingtheplate,withinor throughit,whereby the fastening is closed and capable of being secured by an independent eyelet to the ma terial carrying it, as set forth.

2. The combination. with boots, shoes, or other articles of wear, of the fastening A, composed of a bent strip of sheet metal having a tongue, 0, at its one end and an apertured portion, d, at its other end, having a recess, e, and depression f, with which said tongue is made to engage, and the independent eyelet G, essentially as shown and described.

GEORGE HAMPTON COURSEN.

Witnesses:

FELIX R. SULLIVAN, GEo. E. SAVILLE. 

